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Harry Camsell School time capsule to be unsealed

Contents will be part of Canada Day festivities
time-capsule
A time capsule has sat buried beneath this rock at Harry Camsell School since October 2000. Plans are ongoing to have the capsule unearthed in time for Canada Day, where it will be unsealed at Bob McMeekin Park. Photo courtesy of Shayla O'Connor

Have you ever taken part in a time capsule project? Can you remember what you put inside of it? If you don't, that's okay because it was so long ago. 

Harry Camsell School will be doing a time capsule reveal later this month and while one of the people involved in unearthing a 25-year-old piece of history can't remember what she included, it's still an exciting time.

The capsule is scheduled to be brought up from the ground on the weekend of June 29, 25 years after being sealed in the year 2000 and placed underground.

A commemorative plaque on the rock atop where the capsule is buried reads that the capsule was supposed to be opened exactly 20 years to the day, but Shayla O'Connor, who was a student at the school in 2000 and who is helping get everything together, said the pandemic stopped that dead in its tracks.

"I don't think the world could've predicted everything that was going to happen that year," she said. "I talked with the principal at the time back then and was told that it just wasn't in the cards."

Same deal with 2021, O'Connor added, and with 2022. 

So the decision was made to wait until 2025.

"It provided an additional milestone and took it to 25 years," said O'Connor.

Eagle 88 will help with the excavation, O'Connor also said, and she believes the company also helped with putting the time capsule into the ground all those years ago.

The capsule will be a special guest during the town's Canada Day parade on July 1 as it makes its way through downtown before being brought to Bob McMeekin Park, where it will be opened for the first time since 2000.

"I can't remember what I put in there, but I do remember filling out one of those forms about what you want to be when you grow up," said O'Connor. "I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun for those who are coming back or for those who still live there and who will be a part of this."

O'Connor, who was born and raised in Hay River, said she plans on coming back from Edmonton for the festivities and she knows that there will be some others who will be travelling in.

"I've heard from some people who will be there," she said. "We also contacted Kyle Camsell, Harry Camsell's grandson, and he said he would be there along with (Coun.) Keith Dohey."

O'Connor said a little bit of help is still needed, such as a company to safely refill the hole at the school once the time capsule is unearthed, along with a trailer and truck to help parade the time capsule around on its journey to the park. 

"Everyone is invited to come out and see the time capsule opened and hopefully, everything works out," said O'Connor. "Hay River will always be home for me and I can't wait to see what we all put in there."



About the Author: James McCarthy

I'm the managing editor with SA国际影视传媒 and have been so since 2022.
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